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My 11-month old little boy showing an attitude

Hi All, I have an 11-month old son who used to be a happy bub until recently when he started 'showing some attitude.' Every time adults greet him or touches him, he would hit them in the face with his little fist or slap them or scratch them. I usually tell the people that it's because he just woke up or he's sleepy, but I have noticed that he does it almost all the time now. I am going paranoid that maybe my husband and I are spoiling him? Is this a phase that would pass or is there a way to make an 11-month old understand that what he's doing is not good? I just say no, and he'd stop for a while but then he'd start slapping me in the face as well.

My guess is that your son has realized that he gets a reaction from you and/or the person he's hitting when he does this and he will likely continue to do it unless he realizes that it hurts and he should NOT do it.

We have another thread that addresses this challenge and offers suggestions on how to stop the behavior. You can find it here.

Please post back and let us know if the information is helpful, and if not, we will try to offer more suggestions. But you definitely need to stop the behavior rather than letting it continue.

Thanks Kate! I've read the suggestions on the other thread and your advice there is actually what I have been doing with my son. When I pretend to be crying, he would put his face on my face or my shoulder and I would see that he is remorseful but when a new person comes and he is not in the mood, he'd do the hitting again. He seems to forget really quick.

I'm glad one of the suggestions worked for you. I would persevere with this.

Try and keep calm when he gives a little hit and explain that it hurts and he cannot do this. As his comprehension of language gets better with time this will work more and more effectively. It's also important to be consistent with little ones (e.g. act the same way whenever he does this). Lots of toddlers do go through this stage and I am sure it will pass for you and your son too.

I've just read in another post that your son is around different languages at home. I have worked for a number of years as an Audiologist (hearing and balance clinician) and during this time some of the children I saw in the clinic showed some behaviour issues. In some, though certainly not all, cases this was because the child had first lived in one country and then moved to another with a different language and so was confused and frustrated about what was expected of them. Some of the children who heard two languages at home would take longer to settle down in the clinic although, with time, both their behaviour and language skills became consistent. I am just wondering if, in your son's case, he is experiencing confusion/frustration/inconsistencies and this is why he is behaving like he is. Of course, this may just be a coincidence. As I say, many children develop well in bilingual settings but sometimes it takes some settling into.